Date: Wed, 8 Jan 1997 20:52:39 -0800 (PST)
From: StreetWrites 
Subject: {poetry} Exercise: "Other Echoes"

I haven't caught up with the list mail quite yet.  Working on exercises,
still.

here's another to follow the Rhyme on:

--

Other Echoes
------------

	There are other ways besides rhyme to create a pattern of sound in a
poem.  This exercise will introduce them to you, give you a chance to
practice each, and then let you decide for yourself how best to use them.

	Sitting by the fireside, sewing,
	listen to the cattle low;
	odd the calls that comfort women -
	strong tread; sleep-murmur; each breath the livestock blow.

	In the first line, "sitting" and "sewing", and the "side" in
"fireside", all start with "s".  This echo in the initial sounds of words
is called "alliteration".  It can add to the rhythmic sense of a poem; it
can add to the mood, if the repetitive sound is carefully chosen; it can,
if overdone in a crowded room, get you hurt.
	There is an additional echo in "by" and "side", in the first line
- and "odd" and "calls" in the third.  This repetition of vowel sounds is
called "assonance".
	Read the poem aloud to decide if it's bad or good.  I don't care
which you decide - but I needed a chance to illustrate "consonance" -- the
repetition of a consonant sound.
	What other examples of assonance, consonance, and alliteration can you
find in those four lines?

	Now let's examine each of these tools in more detail.

Alliteration
------------

	One of the verse forms that depended on alliteration was the Norse
skaldic saga.  The closest example I have on hand is actually a parody;
the story of the Alamo, told as a Norse saga, in the fantasy romp
Silverlock by John Myers Myers.

	Harsh was that hearing for Houston the Raven;
	Foes had enfeebled the fortress at Bexar,
	Leaving it lacking and looted the while
	Hordes were sweeping swift on his land,
	Hell-bent to crush him.  The cunning old prince,
	Did not, though, despair at danger's onrushing.
	Hardy with peril, he held it, perused it;
	Reading each rune of it.  Reaching the facts,
	He thumbed through his thanes till he thought of the one
	Whose guts and gray matter were grafted most neatly.
	"Riders," he rasped, "to race after Bowie!"

	As demonstrated, alliteration was the key of the saga form. 
Alliteration has also been an old, fond tool of comedy.

	The time has come, the Walrus said,
	To speak of many things,
	Of ships and sails and sealing wax,
	And cabbages and kings.

	Alliteration can also be used for serious esthetic effect.  He is
not to everyone's taste, but I happen to be fond of Gerald Manley Hopkins.
This is an example of alliteration from "The Windhover" (1877):

    I caught this morning morning's minion, king-
	dom of daylight's dauphin, dapple-dawn-drawn Falcon, in his riding
	Of the rolling level underneath him steady air, and striding
    High there, how he rung upon the rein of a wimpling wing

	One of the aspects to be aware of in the use of alliteration is the
different psychological effect of various repeated sounds.  A repeated
"m" sound gives a feeling of hush, containment, murmuring.  A repeated
"k" sound is harsh, abrasive, threatening, or angry.  A repeated "l"
sound is lilting.  Repeated "p" sounds very quickly become comical.

Exercise
--------

Basic
-----

Write an extended sample of alliteration - at least twenty words - using
each one of the following letters:

A
D
H
K
M
P

Want more?  Try:

B
F
I
R
S
T

What is the difference in effect of each?

Guidelines for Critique
-----------------------

This exercise does not need to be submitted for critique.  It is for your
own use.  If any of these exercises are submitted for critique, the focus
of the critique should be:

1) What is the effect of this particular alliteration?

2) Does the word choice seem strained, or natural?  When two words
alliterate, do they seem like words that fit there for other reasons, or
words that were simply chosen to have the same first sound?


Advanced
--------

Select one of the following uses of alliteration:

	Skaldic saga
	Comedy
	Real poetry

Do it.

Guidelines for critique:
---------------------------

Poems should be critiqued on every basis that a poem would be, with the
addition of

1) What effect does the alliteration have?  And how effective is it?

2) Does the word choice seem natural, or strained?


Assonance and Consonance
------------------------

Exercise
--------

Basic
-----

Pick a paragraph of prose from any source.  Rephrase it, using words that
echo each others vowels, or consonants.  Examine it.  What is the
difference in effect?

This exercise need not be submitted for critique.  If you do submit it,
please include both the original paragraph, and your adaptation.

Giudelines for critique
--------------------------

For paragraphs submitted for critique:

1) What is the effect of the second paragraph, compared to the first?

2) Are there any inconsistencies in effect - sounds that conflict or
distract from the overall impression?

Advanced
--------

Write a poem, not under 30 words and not over 300, that uses
alliteration, assonance, and consonance.

Guidelines for critique
-----------------------

Poems should be critiqued on every basis that a poem would be, with the
addition of

1) What effect do the sound echoes have?  And how effective is it?

2) Does the word choice seem natural, or strained?


Write On!
Anitra
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
     "Beware of dragons, for you are crunchy and good with ketchup."  ABS
	   anitra@speakeasy.org   http://www.speakeasy.org/~anitra
	   thalia@speakeasy.org   http://www.speakeasy.org/~thalia

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